Balancing on Threads of Existance
by Eleya hynin
Summary: What everyone is killed or enslaved and the only hope for the galaxy rests on Luke and Mara's young son Ben? Based after Star by Star, as if everything after that is different.
1. PrologueWhat Came Before

AN: Ok, this is pretty depressing, but it has an oober-scary plotline. Here goes:  
  
Prologue:  
  
As the countless thousands of Yuzon Vong ships descended upon the last planet, the long lost heroes of the dead New Republic stared helplessly at the exploding sky. Leia Organa Solo, famed former chief of state, who had helped destroy the Empire and build up the Galaxy from nothing after its destruction. Next to her, her husband, Han Solo looked as though his luck had finally ran out. Originally a smuggler, who also had helped with the destruction of the Empire and been with Leia through the entire rebuilding and destroying of their galaxy. There three children were dead. Jaina and Jacen had been sacrificed to the Yuzon Vong god of war, something which no one could even bring themselves to speak of. Anakin had been killed in battle. Never had the galaxy been in such a sad state as this, and they new it. But even through all of this, they had not given up faith that the galaxy would prevail, in the final moments of destruction and enslavement. Luke Skywalker, Leia's twin brother, the famous Jedi master who had trained countless numbers of young Jedi, now all lost to the Yuzon Vong. All save one wookie, Lowbacca, nephew of the famous Chewbacca, now dead as well. Lowbacca stood a bit away from the group, obviously lost in some deep thought. Mara Jade Skywalker, once the Emperor's hand, now married to Luke and cradling their son, Ben, in her arms. She looked as though she had lost all since of hope. With them stood the two druids, R2-D2 and C3-PO. They were all that remained of those who remembered the galaxy in its glory. The last remnants of hope.  
  
"Wait. I have an idea." Spoke Leia in an unsteady voice. "Once the Yuzon Vong find us, they will kill us all, so long as they know who we are. But they would have no way of recognizing Ben, as long as he wasn't with us. Someone could slip him in with the populace, and he would escape with the slaves." She finished with some difficulty.  
  
"But who would take him?" Asked Mara, "They would recognize any of us."  
  
With this, Lowie walked forward and growled something. None of them needed Em-Tee-Dee to translate. "You would take him?" Asked Luke. Lowbacca growled in response.  
  
Mara looked down at her son, only a year and a half old, and slowly handed him to Lowbacca. Through tears, she said, "Look after him, Lowie. Don't let anything happen to him." As she spoke, explosions rocketed outside, knocking everybody, save Lowbacca, to their knees. "Go! There is no time!" Shouted Mara. Lowie started for the door, when Luke called out to wait. "There is one thing left to do." He said. With that, he put his hand up against his son's forehead. Mara, Lowie and Leia all gasped, as Luke placed memories of the time before the Yuzon Vong, before even the emperor, to the time of Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi Council. Of the former glory of the Jedi knights and how they had protected the galaxy. And how they were obliterated by Palpatine, how Luke had rebuilt there numbers, and how they were again defeated by the Yuzon Vong. "You are the galaxy's only hope, Ben. Good luck." Luke spoke in a soft voice. With that, he removed his hand, to reveal an ice blue star on Ben's forehead. Another jolt threw everyone to the ground again, and Lowie fled threw the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Yuzon Vong leading the lines of slaves had not many scars, showing his low rank. He was not paying attention to any of the captives, even the tall wookie carrying a small bundle. One of his superiors happened to be watching, however, and he did notice the bundle. He took out his amphistaff and approached the wookie. When he heard the bundle cry, however, he understood. He let the wookie pass with the rest, and board the ship for one of the many slave planets.  
  
AN: Ok, what did you all think? Good, bad? Please don't stop reading because this seems weird. At least try the next chapter, which is already posted. Thanks, Lily~^~ 


	2. Chapter 1 What Once Was, and What Is Now

Chapter 1: 12 years later  
  
It was still dark when the Yuzon Vong made the loud wakeup call throughout the slave camp. Ben jumped out of bed, from the same dream. He wished it would be true, that these Knights would keep peace in the galaxy. He knew it was not though. No one was free anymore, all were slaves for the Yuzon Vong. He was almost 14 years old now. He had the same ice blue eyes that his father had had, and reddish blond hair. He got dressed quickly, glancing over at Lowie, who was sitting on his bunk, with a look of sadness on his face. "C'mon Lowie. We won't get any of the food if we stay here moping," Ben said. Lowie had taken care of him for as long as he could remember. He was a wookie, but he understood common, if he could not speak it. And Ben understood wookie-speak, so they communicated just fine.  
  
"Did you have the dreams to?" Asked Ben. (AN: I am going to actually write everything that Lowie says, since it is important, just pretend he's speaking in Wookie-Speak. ()  
  
"That is all I dream about, Ben. What once was. Not what is out there now. Who would want to dream about that?" Spoke Lowie.  
  
"Lowie, did you know my parents?" Ben asked as they were walking toward the mess hall.  
  
"Yes, I did, Ben. They were both very brave, and helped keep the galaxy safe." Said Lowie in response.  
  
"They didn't succeed." Ben said bitterly.  
  
"No, they didn't, did they? But they fought up till the last moment, with all the strength they could muster. There are some things people just can't win against."  
  
"Like the Yuzon Vong, you mean?" Asked Ben. Then, "Were they Jedi Knights?"  
  
After a long pause, Lowie looks up and responds. "Yes, Ben. Your mother and Father were Jedi knights."  
  
Before Ben can ask more, they are sent different directions in the mess hall. Ben is sent to the one table of humans, as this slave colony is supposed to be made up of mostly aliens. The table is mostly made up of veteran men and women, much passed their prime. However, there is one girl about his age. She is almost a head shorter than him, with blond hair and brown eyes. For some reason, Ben feels a sort of connection with her, as through some kind of magic.  
  
"Kirin, where have you been these last few days?" He asked when he sits down.  
  
"Oh Ben, its amazing! I got to work in the fields, outdoors! Instead of being cramped in those caves all day. But now I have to work the caves again." She said.  
  
"That would explain why your face is so red, from being in the sun. Well, at least I won't have to be working alone anymore. Lowie's always is the fields, so I don't have any other friends in the caves." Ben explained.  
  
"Well, I will be in the caves for a while more, so the both of us won't get lonely in those dark depths."  
  
As they finished eating, the Yuzon Vong sent them off to work, and Ben felt the gloom fall over the whole encampment. He felt it even worse. Something was going to happen today, and probably nothing good.  
  
AN: Ok, how do you all like the first chapter?? Please R&R. Lily~^~ 


	3. Chapter 2 Lowbacca

Chapter 2: Lowbacca  
  
As Lowbacca was herded out to the fields, he worried about Ben's knowledge of Jedi Knights. Where had he heard such a thing, when all mention of Jedi was banned. It was then when Lowie remembered the blue star on Ben's forehead, and the knowledge his father had given him with it. Ben was to young then to understand it, but now the memories were coming forward as dreams. It was time that Ben learned of his heritage. Lowbacca vowed to tell Ben at the end of the day. It was then the sky went black.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
Ben was working in the caves, when he felt a tremendous pain in his mind, like something terrible was happening. He did not know what was causing this, or how he knew, but he did know that he had to get to safety. However, he could not leave Kirin to die. So he ran down into the lower levels, where she was posted today, and tried to find her through the blackness. It was extremely difficult, as he had but a dim light, but he seemed to have some sort of intuit direction of where he needed to go.  
  
"Ben! What is happening?" Kirin yelled, her voice filled with fear.  
  
"I don't know, Kirin. But I know we need to get out of here, and quick. C'mon!" As he spoke he was pulling Kirin towards the surface. They were stopped about halfway by a guard, some strange alien race that lived well underground, and tried to be forced back down. Ben kicked the guard square in the forehead, for Lowie had been helping him with fighting skills, and the alien fell back, screaming for help.  
  
"Ben! Your star is glowing!" Kirin whispered in the cold dark. And she was right. The blue star upon Ben's forehead was glowing a brilliant blue.  
  
"Quickly, Kirin. There isn't any time. The roof is going to collapse any minute. We have to get out of here and find Lowie." He yelled, and they started heading for the surface again.  
  
It took nearly ten minutes of crawling threw fallen rock from the cave in, but Ben and Kirin managed to get through to safety. Once they reached the surface, they found a pitch black sky and nothing but havoc, everywhere.  
  
"Oh no, we will never find Lowie in this mess." Ben exclaimed upon reaching the surface.  
  
"We have to get out of here. And this is our chance. Look, those ships over there, they don't look like anything I have seen before. Except maybe in stories. I bet they are human ships! We can escape!" Yelled Kirin.  
  
"But I can't leave Lowie." Ben said stubbornly.  
  
"Lowbacca is smart, I bet he will get out and get on a ship. And then we will meet him at the other end. It will be ok Ben." Said Kirin, "But now we have to leave."  
  
So reluctantly, Ben boarded one of the ships, that looked oddly familiar, like something out of one of his dreams.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
Lowbacca was racing through the crowd of slaves and captors, lightsaber drawn and attacking all Yuzon Vong it encountered. He already had a group of slaves following behind him, all carrying their tools and using them too attack Yuzon Vong. When the reached the cave entrance, Lowbacca saw that the caves were completely destroyed and all in them dead. However, he still felt Ben through the force, so he knew he was alive. The only other option was to go toward the human and alien ships. Lowie gasped when he saw the Millennium Falcon taking off before him. He could not reach it before it left, so he had to lead his group of followers onto another ship and hope Ben found a safely.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
The ship Ben entered with Kirin was obviously a piece of junk. It was a wonder it even flew. But he knew he had been on it before. Something inside him told him it was true. So he could not help feel safe on board.  
  
"We could have picked a better ship, you know." Said Kirin.  
  
"No this one is perfect." Ben replayed in a dream-like state.  
  
"Suit your self, but it won't be perfect once it crashes and we die." Kirin walked off muttering.  
  
Ben took the opportunity to look around the ship, and explore. It was not very large, only several rooms. When he reached the cockpit, he was stopped.  
  
"Hey, kid, you probably shouldn't be looking around here." Came the voice of a man with black hair and dark skin, who looked as though he had seen better years. None of this concerned Ben, though, since he couldn't believe he was actually talking to someone who he knew he had met before.  
  
"Sorry, I was just exploring. Is this your ship?" Ben asked.  
  
"Well, I guess. It always was Han's, but since he and everyone else who mattered died, I guess it belongs to me." Replied the man.  
  
"Who are you. I feel as though I have met you before." Asked Ben.  
  
"Why I am Lando Callrisien. Brave smuggler, and friend of the famous Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. And who might you be?" But Ben did not answer. He was two dumbfounded by the second name this Lando had spoke.  
  
"I am Ben. Luke Skywalker, was he a Jedi Knight?" Asked Ben.  
  
"The very best. But how did you know that?" Asked Lando.  
  
"Lowie told me my, my parents were Jedi. I don't really know what that means, except for all Jedi were killed, first by some guy in a dark robe with a wrinkled, white face, and then again by the Yuzon Vong." Ben responded slowly.  
  
"What did you say your name was, kid?" Lando asked, but Ben didn't have time to respond, as someone called Lando from the cockpit, "Were under attack. Everyone to your battle stations."  
  
"Look kid, I've got to go. Find me later though, kay? I think we need to discuss who exactly your parents are and if this Lowie is really Lowbacca, nephew of the famous Chewbacca." With that, he ran off. AN: Is that a bit longer??? Please R&R!!  
  
~^~Lily 


End file.
